Golden Thorns
by Cynicalandproud
Summary: The story of my OCs and their time at beacon. runs parallel to the actual series so I have tried not to elaborate on characterisation too much
1. Chapter 1

Golden Thorns Chapter One

As he stared into the fast moving water he was vaguely aware of someone approach and lean on the railing next to him.

"Can I help you with something?" he said without looking up.

"I was about to ask you the same thing?" her voice was soft, gentle, with an accent he couldn't place, "you seem a little preoccupied."

"Is it always in your nature to ask personal questions of strangers, or am I just extra special?" he replied.

"My apologies, I did not mean to intrude."

"My problems are not your problems, it would be best if you didn't ask."

"No-one should have to shoulder their worries alone."

Who was this girl, asking questions and yet seeming to have a response to everything? No matter, she would leave when she realised that he wasn't going to reply.

"Judging by your weapon and presence on this ship, is it safe to say that you will be attending Beacon, oui?" she certainly was persistent, credit to her for that.

"What's it to you if I am?" he replied noncommittally

"I am as well, but as you can probably tell from my accent that I am not from Vale, and I do not know any of my fellow students yet."

"Where are you from, I haven't heard your accent before," it slipped out before he could stop himself. He was now party to a full blown conversation. Great, just great. This was unexpected. Acknowledging that the interaction was now unavoidable, he turned and looked at her for the first time. She was tall, like him, had dark blonde hair and bright green eyes set in a very symmetrical face.

"Far west of here," she answered, "and you?"

"Not too far from here."

There was a welcome pause in the conversation. He listened to the sound of the waves as the ship sliced its way through the surf.

"What is your name?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Ha," he laughed derisively, "who cares, it's not like it carries any weight or significance…" anymore.

"That may be, but I still wish to know."

"Coran," he said slowly, "Coran Silverthorne"

"Oh, I'm sorry"

"It was four years ago"

"No amount of time can heal such a loss, I'm still sorry."

"Thanks."

Another period of silence during which the girl went very still and quiet.

"We will be arriving soon," she said suddenly, "and I have to get my things together. I will see you at the opening ceremony, oui?"

"Yeah, sure," Coran replied as she started moving off.

"Hey!" he called after her, she stopped mid stride and spun round, grinning, and Coran noticed how bright sunlight seemed to break through the clouds and make her hair shine. For a moment the words caught in his throat before he finally said "I didn't catch your name."

"That is because I did not tell it."

"So wha-"she stopped him mid-sentence

"It's Marie" she said. And with a wink and a last grin she disappeared down into the hold and, for the first time in four years, Coran was sorry to see someone go.


	2. Chapter 2

Golden Thorns: chapter two

As the ship docked Coran packed his small hold-all. Five ammunition clips, a change of clothes and a toothbrush later and he was ready to leave. As he moved through the crowd he found himself searching for the distinctive copper hair. He quelled that thought almost as soon as it emerged. What was he thinking? He should be observing, listening, alert to his surroundings. He stopped where he was and leaned on the cabin wall, closed his eyes and immersed himself in the idle chatter of the hoard of prospective students. He filtered out most of the pointless nonsense, introductions and so forth, and focused on specifics. One kid, four metres to his right, boasting about this crossbow-axe thing he was carrying, two more on his left arguing over the assignment of teams.

"I heard that they pair you off on your entry grades," one said

"Don't be an idiot, it's probably completely random" the other countered.

Teams. Ha, what a joke. What use were teammates when you were alone and surrounded by beowolves.

Coran could hear the ramp go down. He waited for the crowd to thin out and was just about to move off the wall when he heard running footsteps. He snapped his eyes open and ducked around the corner, ready. The footsteps were getting closer. An assailant? He had to be sure. Any second… now! Coran simply stuck his foot out and a kid tripped, hit the deck and slid a good five feet before coming to a complete stop, his bag landing on his back.

"Ow, geez man can't you see we're already late enough as is?" he grumbled as he got hurriedly to his feet and grabbed up his luggage. For the second time today Coran was stunned into silence, though for a completely different reason. He'd seen Faunus before so he was used to seeing ears or a tail that weren't exactly human, heck he'd even seen a girl with giant rabbit ears getting off the ship just now, but this kid took it to a whole new level. As he dusted himself off Coran realised that the stranger in front of him was covered from head to thick, muscled tail in small, beige-green scales.

Noticing Coran's blank stare for the first time, the kid muttered "story of my frikken life," before holding out a hand, with a small claw on the end of each finger, and introducing himself in a bright and perky fashion as "Devlyn, Devlyn Lazarus."

"Coran."

"Well come on Coran, it wouldn't do to be late on our first day, now would it?"

"No"

And with that, Devlyn was gone, sprinting down the ramp and across the docks. Reluctantly, Coran followed.


	3. Chapter 3

Golden Thorns: chapter three

Coran sprinted towards the sky-bus that would take him and his fellow students to the top of beacon cliff. He could see the doors closing. He jumped, and made it through as the pilot yelled at him "cutting it fine, much? Next time get out of bed sooner." Followed by a string of mumbled curses that would make a sailor feel faint. It really was quite impressive just how fluent he was in profanity.

As the bus took off Coran spared the time to take in his surroundings. Nothing of any interest. Just a sky-bus full of overexcited teens with more energy that sense. Except for one thing, a young girl, barely older than fifteen and dressed in a red hood was getting crushed almost to unconsciousness by someone claiming to be her sister. That must be a strange relationship, considering that they look almost nothing alike Coran thought. And for one so young to be accepted to beacon… he decided that she was one to be aware of.

At this point he was jarred out of his thoughts by a scraggly blonde guy running around the bus causing havoc and complaining about feeling sick. Coran thought it prudent to stand in the corner, out of the way for the rest of the flight.

When the pilot finally decided to land coran was out the door and into the fresh air. So this was the great beacon academy then. A giant spire surrounded by smaller towers and flying buttresses. He fell in step behind the group of students heading towards what appeared to be an entrance hall of some kind.

After a short wait, in which Coran's ritual of listening yielded no information other than someone was very angry at someone else, a man with silver hair, small glasses and a vaguely disinterested expression took to the stage. This must be the great Professor Ozpin that he'd heard so very little about.

"I'll…keep this brief," he began, but Coran wasn't listening. He had glanced over to where the shouting had come from and had gotten completely absorbed in what he saw. He felt his fists clench involuntarily and he ground his teeth. What the hell was she doing here? Didn't she have a gigantic multinational that daddy had to teach her how to run. Why did she have to be here? Why now? Why, when things were finally starting to show signs of looking up did god-damn I'm-vastly-superior-to-everyone-I-meet I'll-pretend-to-be-your-friend-as-long-as-your-dad-is-part-of-my-company Weiss Schnee have to apply to Beacon the same year that I did? Coran was on the verge of punching a hole in the beautiful marble wall when he felt a hand fall gently on his shoulder. He spun round and found himself eye to bright green eye with Marie, the girl from the ship. Immediately the caged monster that was trying to tear down the building from inside of him stopped and slunk back into the dark hole in which he kept it.

"Coran? Are you okay?" she whispered and he noticed that everyone was filing off down a corridor, "you look pale."

"I'm fine," He shrugged off her hand and turned to follow the mass of people out of the hall, "what's going on?"

"We are all spending the night in a hall called the barn, team allocations are tomorrow morning on the cliff."

"Thanks," grand, a whole night in a room full of people that he didn't want to talk to. And it was all going so well.


	4. Chapter 4

Golden Thorns: chapter four

Three hours later and it was dark. 'The Barn' was a large hall in which the students had each unrolled sleeping bags and were talking amongst themselves. Coran was sat up against the far wall, watching his peers gossiping in the candlelight. He had located Weiss almost as soon as he entered the room and positioned himself as far away from her as he physically could. He then proceeded to pick up the first book he saw and pretended like she wasn't there. He could hear quite clearly from where he was sitting, she was hardly being subtle, yelling at the child that he had seen on the air bus.

Marie was not far, talking to a girl with red and brown striped hair. A couple of the more burly guys were wrestling each other to the ground. Coran looked around and saw the lizard Faunus, Devlyn, talking to one especially big lad with a stupid ginger quiff. He watched as Devlyn was shoved backward, the guy trod on his tail, started laughing.

"Oh, for god's sake!" Coran muttered and stood up. He placed a hand on the bully's shoulder, "what are you doing?"

"What's it to you?" he sneered and trod on Devlyn's chest

"Stop that." Coran said

"Why""

"Either you will or I will."

"Okay," he said, continuing to sneer as he sauntered off, "fine."

Coran walked over to Devlyn, "you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Sure."

He walked back over to his sleeping bag and blew out the candle.

The next morning Coran was awake long before anyone else. He got up rapidly and went out through the doors. There was a cold breeze which helped him shake off the last of his grogginess. He then went to his locker and began getting his gear together. He strapped on his bracers, picked up his glave and began making his way to the cliff. He was the first one there so he sat on the grass a little way away to wait. Slowly everyone else began to arrive in ones and twos and privacy became scarce.

Suddenly Ozpin was there and he was giving a briefing. Head north, get relic, first person you lay eyes on will be your partner for the next four years, simple. He looked around and saw the girl with the stripy hair a few people down the line, no-one else he recognised. Not that it mattered he will have got through the forest with the relic before the others even hit the ground.

Then he was in the air.


	5. Chapter 5

Golden Thorns: chapter five

Cold wind, roaring in his ears. Coran pulled his glaive off of his back, slammed it, point first, into a tree and held on as the ancient plant toppled and crashed to the ground. Here he was in the middle of the emerald forest. He took a moment to survey his surroundings. Nothing. No sound, no movement. Nothing.

"Timber," he called lazily to the emptiness.

He started running. No point hanging around went there was a relic to find. Speaking of which, Coran had no idea what he was looking for. Some kind of ancient temple, that was simple enough, but relic was a very vague term. Thinking about it, this Ozpin guy was, like… cryptic, like… all the time.

An explosion. Gunfire. A plume of smoke rising above the trees. Someone's got themselves into trouble already. Not my problem. Though he secretly hoped that Weiss was involved somehow.

He kept running. For at least an hour he ran. Everything looked the same in this bothersome forest. He had expected to run into some Grimm by now, but he wasn't complaining. He really wanted to just get this over with. Bloody hell, would this forest never end? Coran decided to climb a tree to see if he could find some sort of landmark. He used his momentum to jump up to the first branches, and started his climb. Five minutes and two near death experiences later and he was amongst the top most branches trying to spot any signs of a temple.

Nothing. Wait, there. To the east a small collection of stones that didn't quite look natural. Even if it wasn't the temple it was a good place to start.

"You see it too then?" came a subtle, accented voice from behind him.

"If I didn't know better id say you were following me," he said as he turned to see Marie in the next tree. Blast, if she'd been a beowolf…

"You are a hard man to keep up with, Coran Silverthorne. I lost track of you twice before I caught up."

"That is the general idea." He answered

"Shall we?" she said brightly.

"I guess so." Coran answered bleakly. Still, it could be worse. He could have landed the bully, or the scraggly one.

As they reached the forest floor he listened out. Wings, big wings. Approaching fast.

"Get under cover, now" Marie turned to him.

"What, what is it?" no time to speak, the thing was almost on top of them. Instead he just shoved her under a small shrub and dived in after. Great gusts of wind followed. It was a nevermore, one of the most dangerous types of Grimm. Ozpin really was unorthodox if he let one of these get this close to his school. It passed without incident, probably occupied with his classmates instead. Again, not his problem. Marie was lying very still beside him, hardly breathing. He slowly looked out of the shrub to see if anything was about to attack him. This made him realise that during the commotion he had lost his sense of direction completely. He tried to use the sun to find east but it was approaching midday and the sun was about as high as it was going to get. No luck there.

It was at this point that Marie got up, casually pulled a twig from Coran's hair and said with utter confidence "it's this way," gesturing off into the trees.

"Are you sure?" he questioned

"Yes," she said. And with a wink and another one of those perfect grins, she was sprinting away. Coran rolled his eyes and followed.


	6. Chapter 6

Golden Thorns: Chapter Six

"Okay, you got me, how did you know?" Coran asked. They had run for another ten minutes before breaking the treeline and finding themselves surrounded by stone pedestals. Mounted on each was a gold or black chess piece.

"I have my ways, mon ami. Now which piece should we choose?"

"Does it matter?" Ozpin wasn't the only cryptic one then.

"I think it will, do you not?"

"It's possible, I guess."

He reached over to the nearest pedestal and picked up a black castle.

"You should be a little more ambitious Coran" she said and threw him the gold king. He caught it effortlessly.

"Really?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"We are the first ones here are we not? Why should we settle for less?"

Coran looked around. Indeed none of the other pedestals were empty. "Fine, gold king it is."

Running footsteps, a pair of people jogged out of the tree line. It was the girl with the stripy hair, and Devlyn of all people.

"Hey Coran," he said as he slowed to a halt next to him, "this is Johanna, Johanna Umbra"

"S'up" she said

"Oh y'know, nothing much, running, hiding." Coran answered

"Oh, the usual then,"

Marie turned towards them. "May I suggest that we get under cover before that nevermore returns?"

"Wait, a nevermore? Why are we not continuing to run?" asked Devlyn, a hint of panic in his voice.

"Well I've got a relic, so… I have no reason to stay." Coran turned and started walking north out of the clearing.

"We." Marie said sternly.

"Huh… sure."

Marie rolled her eyes at Coran and started after him. "Get yourselves a statue, and come with us. I feel like it would be for the best."

"Yeah," replied Devlyn. He ran over and grabbed the second gold king. "Right." They ran to the tree line after Coran.

"Wait." He said quickly, "Stay quiet, stay still and stay low. Someone's coming."

At this point two girls broke into the clearing. One had striking blonde hair. The other dark hair and a black bow. She moved cautiously, seeming very alert. She had a history, that one. Coran wasn't sure what gave him that impression but she definitely kept secrets. He watched and listened as the blonde one deliberated over whether or not to take the "cute little pony" or not. Did she even know how to play chess? The dark girl looked over to where they were, someone had stepped on a twig. Idiots. Who knew whether they were a threat or not. He knew teams were a bad idea. Coran turned and was about to move off when he heard wings and a scream.

Suddenly the clearing was a hive of activity. At least three people fell out of the sky, including Weiss. Then two people rode in on Ursa and another girl ran in, fleeing a Deathstalker of all things.

"What the Hell is going on," whispered Johanna.

"We have to help them," Devlyn said

"Wait. I want to watch this," Coran held him back, "don't you dare give away our position when there are such dangerous Grimm around."

"But they might need help," Devlyn protested

"They'll be fine. Look." The eight of them were already moving off. Running towards the end of the woods in the direction of the cliff. The great beasts, Deathstalker and Nevermore, chasing after.

"Now we can go."


	7. Chapter 7

Golden Thorns: Chapter Seven

The morning after the events of the Emerald forest Coran awoke in his dorm room. It took him five minutes to unpack his small hold-all. Clothes hung up, clips in draw and tooth brush in a cup by the sink in the en suite bathroom. These rooms were disgustingly comfortable and it showed. He had unpacked, showered, and gotten dressed and his team was still asleep.

Johanna Umbra; lying on her front, bright spikey hair sticking out at odd angles. Devlyn Lazarus; curled up on top of his sheets, tail tucked along his side and arms under his head. And then there was Marie d'Or, the foreign girl with the honey coloured hair, asleep on her side, a slight smile on her face. His team, and they were his team, "team SOUL lead by Coran Silverthorne", was a responsibility than he most definitely did not want or need. And yet Ozpin saw fit to place them under his command.

He watched his team sleep for another minute, then decided to go and get breakfast. As he was walking down the corridors he heard students talking about a new team of kids. Of course rumours spread fast in closed communities. Most people would have heard the story of the nevermore and the girl in the red cloak. Coran new the story better than most. He had been watching.

He and his team, he was stuck with them now, had been looking for the way back up beacon cliff when they had watched as the eight kids had managed to destroy the ancient temple and kill the two mighty Grimm. Even Coran had to admit that it was damn impressive.

Classes started today. 9 o'clock sharp. He looked at a clock mounted high on the wall. Eight thirty. Plenty of time. Wait, no. No ticking. He was probably late. He set off at a run, and ran straight into Johanna.

"Where were you, Coran? We have been looking for ages"

"You were all still asleep so I went for a walk,"

"And didn't leave a note or anything? We were worried about you."

"Why, we're in the middle of a school where the teachers are trained fighters."

"Still."

"Fine, I'll let you know when I next want to leave your sight."

"Wow, talk about wrong side of the bed, what's up?"

"Classes, let's not be late."

"But it's only eight thirty."

"Clocks broken."

She stood on tiptoe, listened at the clock and turned around. "So it is. Shall we?"

He nodded and they both hurried to their first class. Grimmonology with one Professor Port.

It was a full class with each desk occupied. Not just by anyone either. Two rows in front of him, sitting ramrod straight was ickle miss perfect. Coran was contented by the fact that he had got to class a good ten minutes before her team. It lifted his spirits to see her burst in one minute before the lesson began, panting and apologising. Not so perfect after all then. She had then proceeded to volunteer to fight a Boarbatusk. After that the lesson was over and she stormed off in a huff. All in all, Coran's first day had been very entertaining.

"What's so funny, that girl could have died." Said Jo

"Remember what I said this morning. School full of hunters and huntresses. She'd have been fine."

"Seriously though, what if she had been hurt at least."

"Then she would have been hurt."

"That's dark, dude."

"Look, the instant she got a scratch she'd have had a team of docs on her"

They arrived back at the dorm room at the same time as Marie and Devlyn who had just come back from "history with Professor Oobleck, right."

"Yeah, he's a strange one," Dev hissed, "obsessed with his coffee."

"I don't know about you all, but I am very tired," Marie said with a yawn, "I am going to bed.

"Good idea," Coran said. He had a lot to think about.


	8. Chapter 8

Golden Thorns: Chapter Eight

It had been two weeks. Lessons were dull and people were annoying. It was evening and his team mates were in their dorm room. Dev was struggling with some of his work but the girls were helping him through it. Coran was on his bed, attempting a tricky essay on the pack behaviour of beowolves for professor port.

"How were the Faunus able to beat the general again?"

"Come on, Dev, you know this." Said Jo encouragingly

"Wait, night vision, right?"

"Yeah, loads of them could see in the dark so the surprise attack was beaten." Coran said from his position in the corner.

"Thanks guys."

"Hey, I need to do something. I'll see you guys later?"

"Yeah, sure Coran. Don't stay out too late or you'll be locked out."

"I'll be back before then, don't wait up for me."

He had been thinking for a while. He couldn't avoid Weiss any more. It was getting harder and harder to concentrate. He needed to talk to her. Coran walked to the corner leading onto her corridor and waited. He knew that she often got back late and was counting on it tonight.

It took half an hour for her to arrive. She was walking at speed with books under one arm and immaculate ponytail just starting to deconstruct. It had been a hard day then. He kept to the shadowed corner until she was right next to him when he quietly said "hello Weiss."

She started, spun round dropping her books, drew her sword and let the point hang an inch from Coran's neck. "Easy there, princess," he said, knocking the blade out of harm's way with the back of his hand, "I not going to attack you."

"Who are you, and how dare you speak to me like th-"

"Same old Weiss." Coran interrupted "I don't expect you to recognise me. I'm taller, my hair is longer and, so I'm told, my eyes look like they've seen some pain."

"What do you want? You degenerate."

"Oh please, degenerate? Really?"

"If you don't tell me why you're here then I'll-"

"Coran Silverthorne!" he shouted in her face. That shut her up. He could feel the rage overflowing as he grabbed her collar and pinned her to the wall causing her to drop her sword. She was stunned into silence. Her lips quivered and voice shook as she spoke.

"I-I had no idea tha-" she started but Coran was already speaking.

"That what, Weiss! That I was at beacon? That I would not remember? That I was still alive?" He stopped himself, let go of her. He could see that she was scared. "Well I am." He said, his voice no more than a whisper. "I do remember and I haven't forgiven. We were friends once. Never again." And with that, he turned and walked away leaving her stood there in the hallway, sword and books at her feet.


	9. Chapter 9

Golden Thorns: Chapter Nine

That had not gone as planned. He had not meant to get so angry. He had not meant to scare her. He had lost control of his emotions and he had almost hurt a fellow student. Coran stumbled back into his dorm to find the rest of his team already asleep. Good, he did not want to involve them in his conflict if at all possible. He was exhausted. So much so that he fell on his bed, fully clothed, and was asleep instantly.

The next morning was thankfully a weekend. Coran got up fast and went to get breakfast before his teammates were up. He wanted to avoid people today. He needed twenty-four hours to compose himself. Get back in control. As he got to the canteen he saw Weiss leaving. She was alone. Their eyes locked, but instead of feeling anger Coran could only feel immense guilt. She looked down and hurried away. What have I done?

No longer having any apatite, Coran turned and went the other way. He made a beeline for the balcony at the end of the hallway. Fresh air would help him clear his head.

He stepped out of the doors and into the bright sunlight. A pair of small birds flew by as he leaned on the waist-high wall. The view from the cliff was truly breath-taking.

A voice next to him, strange that he had not heard them approach. "Wonderful view, isn't it."

Coran looked round to see professor Ozpin standing tall beside him. Over by the doorway Marie was meekly looking at the floor, holding her upper left arm in her right and shuffling her feet slightly. Coran stood up straight.

"Yes, sir. I was just thinking that."

"Miss d'Or over there said that you went out last night, and did not return until just before lockout."

"Sir I-"

"She also said that you have been avoiding your team. This is not becoming of a leader, Mr Silverthorne."

"Sir I- I just needed to sort out a personal issue."

At this point, Ozpin's voice dropped so that Marie could not hear. "Your team depends on you, Coran. You will have to share your history with Miss Schnee with them at some point."

"How do you-"

"No-one should have to shoulder their worries alone Coran."

"If you know about my past, then you know why I have difficulties trusting people. They may rely on me but how do I know that I can rely on them."

"That's just a matter of trust. Just like I trust you not to antagonise Miss Schnee again." He said. He took a sip of coffee, and walked away. Marie rushed over, her face full of concern. "Coran," she started but he cut her off.

"When we first met, what did I tell you?"

"Coran please."

"On the ship. What did I say?"

"Please, just-"

"My problems are not your problems are not your problems, Marie."

"But that is no longer true. We are partners and if we cannot trust each other then who can we trust?"

"No-one. I can trust no-one."

"Coran, wait." She caught his hand and his heart skipped a beat. "Please, you can rely on your team. You can trust me." He pulled away. And left her alone on the balcony. He couldn't do it. He tried to force himself to turn around but he just couldn't let her in. he had come so close to another person. So close to believing things might get better. But he just pushed them away. He kept on walking.


	10. Chapter 10

Golden Thorns: Chapter Ten

He punched the wall. Again and again. He no longer felt any pain, nor the blood running down his arm. He continued punching.

Coran had found a small room and shut himself in. he had then proceeded to let rip with all of the feelings that had been building up inside of him for four years. He had destroyed anything within arm's reach, broken the chair, smashed the lamp, plunging the room into darknees and once there was nothing left he had started punching the wall. He did not know how long he had been in here but he had kept going until now. He was weak, had no energy left. Slowly he fell sideways, hit the ground and let the tears fall. He could not remember the last time he had cried but he no longer cared.

What felt like long hours and short seconds later, the door opened. A beam of bright light shone into the dark room across Coran's face, blinding him. He closed his eyes. What happened next didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

The silhouette was too short to be any of the teachers. A student then. Some moron had heard the violence coming from the room and thought it would be funny to watch. "Hey, Coran." Said a husky, sibilant voice. "May I come in?" Coran didn't answer. He could no longer muster the will to speak. The figure entered and crouched in the corner opposite where he was lying. Closing the door behind them. They stayed very still and quiet.

"You know, I was really glad when they made you the leader of our team." What? This was one of his team mates? The voice was male so it had to be the lizard Faunus. He didn't remember his name. He didn't remember very much right then.

"You were so assertive, so in control that I thought that there was no way we could lose with you at our head. Man, was I wrong. You're just as messed up as the rest of us." He gave a little chuckle. "I remember when we first met, on the boat when you tripped me up. I thought you were just another bully waiting to make my life miserable. But when I saw the surprise in your face when you looked at me I knew you didn't mean me any harm because of my skin." Coran opened his eyes. He remembered a name. Sure enough there was Devlyn Lazarus crouching, using his tail to balance. "As a younger kid I didn't look like this. Not scaly at least. I did have very rough skin though. I didn't start going all scaly till I was about five. My family home caught fire and I was badly burned. As the firefighters carried me to safety one of the gas mains blew and my leg was all mangled." He went quiet for a moment. "When I woke up it was three days later. The doctors had said that they were about to give me a skin graft when one of the nurses noticed that the burns were already scabbed over and healing. Another week and they were gone and in their place were scales. Within two weeks of the fire my leg had grown back and I had the worst case of dandruff in history. Another week passed and I was even starting to grow the tail. This is when the bullying started. My life after that was pretty boring. Until I was tripped up and sent flat on my face. And again in the barn when Cardin was kicking me and it suddenly stopped." At this point he stood. "Come back, Coran, your friends are worried about you." He turned and started walking. "Or if not at least get those hands looked at. You've made a right mess of yourself. You look worse than me." He opened the door with a chuckle. "What, you waiting for a fanfare? Get up! You have classes to catch up on."

He stepped over to Coran and tried to lift him. "Geez dude, you're really not making this easy for me. Come on cut a guy a break." Coran slowly got his feet under him and pushed up. He stood, leaning on Dev for balance. "There we go. Now let's go hide from Ozpin before he finds out that you wrecked one of his rooms." Even in his physically and emotionally shattered state, Coran felt the corners of his mouth twitch.


	11. Chapter 11

Golden Thorns: Chapter Eleven

Just standing was painful. The corridor was bright in the late afternoon sun and it burned into Coran's eyes. The only thing keeping him upright was Dev, taking some of his weight on his shoulders. Outside, standing there were his teammates. Jo looked surprised. Marie had a look of utter horror. Coran realised that he must look a mess. Feeling was starting to overcome the numbness and the dull ache was beginning to become searing pain. He felt liquid running down his face and arms. He looked down and saw flecks of blood, leaking from flayed knuckles and a thousand tiny cuts and splinters along his skin, mixing with sweat and forming small puddles at his feet.

He was vaguely aware of a crowd of people forming. "Nothing to see here boys and girls," Dev called to the students, "just taking this guy to the med centre, okay? Coran needs a shower. We'll see you all tomorrow." He started walking, Dev helping him along. Eventually they reached the nurses office. In fact a fully kitted out surgery. "I guess in a school of warriors they need to be ready for anything." Again Coran felt his mouth twitch at Devlyn's joke. He was set down on one of the beds and passed out.

The next morning Coran woke to find his arms and head bandaged. He had a piercing headache but was propped up on a mountain of soft pillows. He ached all over but was acutely aware of a pressure on his hand. He looked down to see Marie, asleep, head resting on the mattress beside him. Her honey coloured hair falling across her face like a golden waterfall. Heart skipping a beat. He looked up to see Jo, snoring in a chair, and Dev curled up on the floor.

A nurse in purple scrubs had opened a window and a cool breeze filled the wardroom. She said to him quietly, "they insisted on staying here. There wasn't a lot I could do to stop them." She smiled warmly at him and hummed her way to each bed in turn, fluffing up the pillows and neatening the sheets.

The snoring stopped. "Coran?" Jo said groggily. Instantly Marie was by his head, feeling his forehead and asking him how he felt.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he protested, but she had already pulled him into a tight embrace that warmed him to his very core. "Ow," he said loudly into her ear as she crushed his chest. She let go immediately, concern showing on her face, but she relented when she saw his smug grin. Dev was slowly stretching in the sunlight from the window. Jo walked up the other side of the bed.

"You didn't half give us a scare there, bud." She said as she leant casually on his voluminous pile of cushions, "do you have any idea how much damage you did to yourself?"

"A few cuts and bruises?" he asked curiously.

"Try fractured knuckles, cracked ribs and a mild concussion. Oh and you also pulled pretty much every muscle in your body. You really should limber up before you go on a murderous rampage next time." She said with a wink.

"I'll remember that. So got off lightly then?" he said. He did feel very stiff.

"You're under bed rest orders for at least another couple of days." Said Devlyn, still warming up in the sun. Another side effect of his particular brand of Faunus. Slow wake up time. One of the reasons why he was almost always late to morning appointments such as class.

"You're probably wondering why I went all psychopath, aren't you."

"That is one of the many things I've been wondering about over the past couple of weeks, yes." Said Dev. Finally coming over to the bed.

"You may want to make yourselves comfortable. This could take a while." They all pulled up chairs and sat around as Coran began to tell his story.


	12. Chapter 12

Golden Thorns: Chapter Twelve

"You have probably heard of my father, Samuel Silverthorne. Y'know the one. Big time exec in Schnee corp. yeah that's me. From the day of my birth I was given lessons by the best private tutors that money could hire. Lessons in history, music, language, extraction and manipulation of dust, and, most importantly, business. I was to take over for my father when he retired."

"Growing up I was taught how to speak, how to move, how to eat et cetera. All so that I could be the model child. A son worthy of a successful businessman. I was taught that everyone was a threat to my position and that in business you are ruthless and strong or you are nothing. As such I wasn't allowed to interact with other kids my age. Heck, my father didn't let me even meet any of his business partners until I had "learned sufficient self-control". This was when I was ten." He took a breath.

"My father was hosting a party in celebration of a large deposit of dust that an exploration team had discovered. It was a very economically attractive prospect. All the board of executives were invited along with many other senior officials in the company. This was where I met Weiss."

"Weiss, as in the girl from the illustrious team RWBY?" asked Jo curiously

"Yes. Heiress to the Schnee dust company, she was the first person my age that I had ever talked to for any length of time. So naturally I enjoyed her company. Our fathers knew each other well so we often shared dinner at each other's mansions. Sounds hilarious but it's actually the truth. Slowly over the course of these meetings, we became friends."

"So what happened, no offence but you hardly look like a toff." Asked Dev

"Fast forward three years. I had gotten to know Weiss quite well. My father had encouraged this friendship in the hope that it would get him closer to the boss. And get him closer it did. By the time I was thirteen my father was one of the bosses most trusted partners. Things were seeming to be going well. However this is the time when attacks by the white fang were getting serious."

"White fang?" asked Marie. Clearly they didn't have much of a presence where she was from.

"A bunch of deranged terrorists who think they can change people's attitudes towards Faunus by blowing stuff up." He answered

"They wanted me to join once," said Dev and everyone turned to stare, "I brushed them off saying I had to think about it and never spoke to them again, don't worry. Carry on Coran."

"My father had been asked to go on one of the shipping trains with a small security team. He was tasked with making sure that any attackers were seen off. This would, and should, have been easy. Up until that point they had only been stealing dust from the train carriages. I was told that instead of raiding the train, the white fang had blown up the tracks. Eleven people in the damaged carriages were killed. The rest were unaccounted for, my father included. All they could find was his glaive, my glaive now." He paused.

"We survived for a time, believing that there would be a ransom demand but the call never came. Instead we spent every penny we had on search parties. Without my father's steady source of income we couldn't afford to keep searching. My mother laid off our maids and butler and sold our house. We appealed to the Schnees to help us but they no longer had the time of day for us. I had tried to talk to Weiss but I wasn't her problem anymore. After that things went downhill fast. I was sent to a normal school with normal people. I was bullied for "being a posh toff." The teachers did nothing to help. Just ignored me."

"Last year my mother got sick. We had each been working wherever we could but we still didn't have enough money to pay for the treatment. She died three months ago." His voice caught in his throat, "The night before last I went to go find Weiss. I got angry. I regretted it yesterday morning but she was avoiding me, understandably. I hid in the office and just let go. I couldn't hold on to it any longer. I just felt like nothing could go right for me. I'm sorry."

"We are here for you, Coran. We always will be."

"Thanks Marie. But I'm just… really tired." And he fell back to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Golden Thorns Chapter Thirteen:

Coran was happy. The past couple of weeks had been the best of his life. Classes were boring but his grades were still good, especially in Oobleck's class. Of course he hadn't spoken to Weiss again but he felt like he had come to terms with his feelings. And his team. They had become one cohesive unit, so closely knit that they were almost a single entity. An epitome of fighting prowess.

Well maybe that was an overstatement, but they were definitely a lot better that they were. He was on his way to a training session now, in fact, walking briskly along the tasteful, oak-panelled corridors of their residence. He glanced through the doors as he passed. Messy dorm rooms, busy offices, storage cabinets… wait what was that. A small room, little more than a closet with a stool, small wooden chair… and a piano.

It was a simple affair. Just an upright sitting in the corner of the room, nothing special, and yet so very special at the same time. He hadn't so much seen one of them in over four years. He probably couldn't even remember how to play.

As if in a trance he walked over and pulled the stool up to it. Very slowly, practically shaking with anticipation, he placed his fingers on the keys. Start simple, C major scale. He depressed the pale white blocks… and was treated to the most grating and out of tune sound he had ever heard come from such an instrument. It sounded like it had not been played in decades. It probably hadn't, hidden away in this small room off of a back passage.

The jarring chords brought him back out of his trance and into reality. He really needed to get to his training session. However he marked this room on his scroll's map. He would come back, try to fix it, tune it up in his spare time. You never know, he might even be able to practice regularly again.

A brief jog and he was in the training fields. Partners and teams were free to come out and train whenever they wanted and at this time in the afternoon it was packed. Leaders running drills, friends sparring, even a shooting range over near the edge of the wide open space.

He quickly found his teammates among the crowds and jogged over, dodging wild swings from his classmates as they tried to land blows on their targets.

"Coran, where've you been, we've been waiting for ages," called Devlyn, his scales rippling.

"Ah, leave off Dev, you only got here five minutes ago."

"Oh, c'mon Jo. I'm always the last to training. Can't you let me enjoy it just this once."

"If you were ever here on time then you would be able to enjoy it more often."

"Yes, thank you for your input, Marie. It's always appreciated." The sarcastic Faunus sounded exasperated.

"You are most welcome" she said smugly, her honey-coloured hair glistening in the bright sun.

Coran ducked a scarily dangerous scythe swing, which he swore removed a couple of his longer hairs, and pulled up next to his friends. "So are we going to get started or what?" he said energetically

"Ah, our illustrious leader arrives."

"Shut it, Dev." He said, giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder and felt hard scales under his scarred knuckles. He reeled in mock pain.

"But why Cor?" he whined amicably.

"Anyway," Coran said, turning to Marie, "I believe that you and I have a score to settle."

"Forty-two, Forty-three at my last count, correct?"

"Stop gloating and come en-garde." They squared up and drew their weapons. Coran, his Glaive's comfortable weight held loosely by his side, point to the ground. Marie, her golden spear pointed upwards towards the sky. He struck, bringing his blade in a diagonal slash upwards. She spun out of the way, skidding slightly on the grass. He saw this and exploited it, pressing home his advantage with another targeted slice… which she parried easily with the pommel of her spear. They were now very up close and personal. Not ideal. She sent a stab up towards his eye. He dropped into a crouch and tried to knock out her legs with the haft of his own weapon. She simply hopped over it and planted the tip of her spear on the back of his neck. "Forty-two, forty- four." She said.


	14. Chapter 14

Golden Thorns: Chapter Fourteen

Kneeling in the mud with a spear pointing at the back of your neck was not a very dignified position to be in and they both knew it. She let him stand back up, only slightly grinning.

"Every time," said Coran, dusting himself down, "how did you know I was going to go for the trip instead of opening the distance."

"I have my ways," she smirked.

"So you keep saying." The training session proceeded as normal, warm up followed by rigorous training exercises and an hour of sparring, during which the score evened out, shortly before Marie pulled out another three victories. Much to the annoyance of Coran.

That evening back in their dorm room he decided that he would question her about it. "In that last match," he said wearily," when I feinted left and cut down. How did you know that I would open myself up along the front leg like that?"

"Yeah, I've been wondering that too," Said Devlyn from his place at the desk, "it was such a stupid move that I never would have suspected it. And that's saying something."

"Thanks for the support, Dev," Coran laughed. It had indeed been a desperate ploy to try and break Marie's winning streak."

"I admire your collective persistence. You are familiar with the idea of a person's semblance, non?"

"A person's individual trait that allows them to manifest a specific talent or ability." Dev recited like a dictionary.

"Exactly. Every semblance is different. For example it can be speed, strength or a great many other things. My personal semblance is clairvoyance."

"Eh?" Dev's blank statement echoed Coran's confusion.

"So you can see the future?" he asked warily. This was a very dangerous power if he understood it correctly.

"No, not precisely." She said with a warm chuckle, "Do not fear Coran. It only means that in some situations I know what to do, where to go, what to say to achieve my goal."

Coran breathed a sigh of relief. "So in the fight today…"

"I felt like I should step left instead of the obvious right and go from there. You won two because it does not always work…" she finished for him.

"I knew that." Surprised, they all turned to look at Jo, sitting cross-legged on the floor by her bed.

Seeing their so hilariously dumbstruck faces she indulged them an answer. "You have your semblance, I have mine. Just as Coran can hear really well when he concentrates and Dev can regenerate some body parts. Though I suppose that is partly to do with the whole lizard thing."

"Wait, what?" said Dev.

"Ugh, earth to the mentally challenged. My semblance allows me insight to that of others."

"How long have we known each other?" Coran asked

"Four, five months?" she replied.

"How come we haven't had this discussion yet? This seems like quite a big deal."

"We need to have some secrets. Where would be the fun in telling everything?" she seemed unreasonably pleased with herself.

"Really…?" Coran was annoyed now. This was useful Intel to have had. He was glad they had not run into any dire combats recently.

"You didn't know, did you?" she asked him

"What?" he looked up blankly.

"That you had a semblance. Don't worry about it. It's quite subtle. I didn't pick it up for at least an hour after we met for the first time."

"I need to process this. See you guys later."

"Cor-" Marie started. But he was already reassuring her

"I'm not going to blow up again. Don't worry, it was embarrassing enough the first time…" no, he wasn't breaking down. He had something more… constructive in mind.


	15. Chapter 15

Golden Thorns: Chapter Fifteen

Still not right. He played it again. It was still very flat. Coran whispered a curse, he would probably need to find a replacement string. He made a note of it on the piece of scrap paper that he had found in his pocket. Listening again, he heard footsteps approaching. Attempting to extricate himself from shoulders deep in the guts of a piano before they arrived, Coran stood and hit his head on it.

Rubbing the sore spot on his cranium, he turned round to see a girl wearing dark clothes and a bow glance into his room as she hurried past. For a moment their eyes locked, but she looked down and hurried on.

Curiosity got the better of Coran, leading him to the doorway and looking out down the dark corridor. There was no-one. He thought he recognised her. One of the members of team RWBY if he was correct. But which one? Blake. That was it, wasn't it? He remembered seeing her for the first time, in the emerald forest. He remembered the distinct feeling that she carried with her great secrets. Possibly a shadowy past. Worth noting.

Quietly, he went back to his work.

The next morning, he and Jo were walking to their first lesson of the day, discussing the new intake of students that had arrived. Potential competition, ones to watch out for, the usual. Apparently there was a new guy, Jo was telling him, who had arrived that morning and had excessive abdominal muscles. This seemed to be a sticking point with her and she rambled all the way to class. From what he could pick up he was a monkey Faunus and a bit of a bad boy. The kind that would get on his nerves if they had an extended conversation. Jo continued to chatter, even after they left the lecture hall, until finally Coran gave in and said "Jo, please do us all a favour and shut up."

"Sorry." She huffed

"Do you even know the guy's name?"

"No but I intend to find out." She said, leering devilishly. Clearly she was plotting some way to lure him into her dark clutches. He almost felt sorry for him, and his abs.

"Hey, Jo." Coran began slowly. "D'you know Blake at all." She gasped theatrically and turned to stare at him, giggling quietly.

"Why would you want to know?" she wiggled her eyebrows at him.

"Oh, ha ha. It's nothing like that. It's just that she was wondering around the corridors last night"

"So? You do that all the time"

"Yeah but isn't team RWBY's dorm in the west wing?"

"Is that not where she was?"

"No I was in the east wing when I saw her."

"Really? What were you doing over there?"

"Private project."

"Oh I see," she smirked and wiggled her eyebrows once more.

"Again, no." he said exasperatedly

"Then what is it?" she responded impatiently.

"It's not ready yet. When it is you can see it. If you're good." He thought a little patronisation would stave off further questions. As she herself said, even teammates need to keep some secrets from each other and the piano was supposed to be his and his alone.

"Is it a present?" she squealed, now in the voice of a little girl," oh, please let it be a pony, please."

"No it's not a pony." He chuckled.

"Aww." She said, pouting comically. "Hey, c'mon. Let's get some lunch."

"I agree. But let's pick up the others first."

"Yeah, Dev would never forgive us if we ate without him again. C'mon, race you back to the dorm."

They broke into a run and charged off into the corridors.


	16. Chapter 16

Golden Thorns: Chapter Sixteen

Fixing the piano had become Coran's new passion. It was almost an obsession. His evenings were dedicated to that small room in the east wing and it was all coming together nicely. He had since replaced all the strings that needed it and had thoroughly cleaned all the major (and minor, he grinned) components. He now felt like it was conceivably playable. Again he sat at the stool, adjusted it to his height and rested his fingers gently on the keys. Slowly he depressed them.

He started with a simple chord progression. He ran his fingers up and down the keys in a scale. He started to play a complex piece. He didn't remember its name but it brought back memories of that drawing room back in his family home. Memories of his mother and father in their armchairs by the fireplace. He revelled in the joy of the music. Felt it in his very soul. He didn't have to think about what came next, his fingers just did it. It was the best feeling, having a week and a half of evenings spent in this dusty cupboard pay off in such a perfect way.

"It's been years since I've heard that piece."

He stopped abruptly and spun around. Standing sheepishly, just outside the doorway was-

"Weiss?"

"Hello Coran." She whispered quietly

"I-" he didn't know what to say. He had hardly seen her since their fight, let alone spoken to her.

"I heard that you roughed yourself up quite badly a couple of weeks ago."

"Nearly a month ago now, yes." She was still hanging just outside in the corridor. "You can come in. I'm not going to hurt you. I overreacted last time. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Just stop, Coran. You have every right to be angry. I should be the one apologising. I let you down when you needed me the most. I don't expect you to be able to forgive me but I hope that we can at least be civil." They held their positions for a moment. Both looking to the floor. Coran broke the silence.

"After my mother died my life was a mess. It was pretty awful before that, yes, but that was the tipping point. That was the point when I stopped caring. I didn't want to die, but I didn't want to live either. I had nothing left to get me motivated. I joined beacon not because I wanted to help people or fight monsters or any of that. I joined because I thought that there was a chance that a Beowolf would get me. Then I met this girl. On the ship here I was leaning on a railing, thinking about nothing when this girl came up and started talking to me. Over the next day I couldn't get rid of her, she just kept turning up wherever I went. Of course that naturally led me to meeting her in the emerald forest along with my other team mates. A month ago when I broke down they were there for me when no-one else was. They forced me to stand when all I wanted to do was crawl into the dark. They saved me from myself and I would do anything to repay them. They are the reason I keep going. Now, it seems, I also have you. Up for a bit of healthy competition?"

The look of numbness that had overtaken her face vanished as he said that last word. A small smile appeared on her face. "Always. But first, keep playing. No-one could ever play that piece like you." She went and sat on the small chair in the corner as Coran resumed his music. After a time she joined in. quietly at first, as if she was nervous, she began to sing. Clear notes in perfect synchronisation with his key strikes, he had always thought that she had real talent and it was obvious she had not lost it. Just as it had been four years ago.


	17. Chapter 17

Golden Thorns: Chapter Seventeen

He was surprised at how well the conversation with Weiss had gone. Clearly their respective teams had been good for them. He had lost his rage and she was no longer so arrogant. All in all it had been a good evening. They were walking back to their dorms together, catching up with the latest happenings and the conversation was flowing with relative ease.

"So what were you doing in the east wing anyway?" he asked her.

"Oh my! I completely forgot!"

"What, what is it?"

"Blake! She ran off. I was supposed to be looking for her."

"What do you mean she ran off? What happened?"

"I… we were arguing… we said some things… and she just took off. Ruby, Yang and I have been searching all day."

"Wow. That bad, huh?"

"Coran! Does this look like a joke to you?"

"No Weiss, but I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"I'm not."

"Why? What did you say to make her run off? She doesn't seem like the type."

"Well… we saw this dust shop in vale. It had been robbed in the night and the police were saying it was the white fang." Coran's hand clenched. "I said that they were a bunch of criminal degenerates and then Blake said 'maybe we were just tired of being pushed around' and then she just… ran off." Thus followed a few seconds of silence.

"We?" Coran said quietly.

"Great, if the others find out that I've been wasting time here it'll take some explaining." She carried on, ignoring him.

"We? As in she was part of them."

"We don't know for sure. Coran you didn't here this from me, okay?"

"Didn't hear what? That your friend is white fang?" Coran's mind was racing.

"Coran. Let us deal with this. I intend to ask her when we find her, just… just don't do to her what you did to me."

"What's this?" he said in mock surprise, "Weiss Schnee going soft on the white fang?" he knew he was overstepping a line now, verging on cruel. She was just as much a victim of their attacks as him. Her face was showing her rage like a picture. "I expected better from you." Boom. That hit home. He threw the comment aside as if it was nothing yet knowing just how much it would wound. She was now very displeased.

"You think I'm soft do you?" her words pierced him like an icicle.

"Not in the slightest. Just wanted to make sure which side you're on. When you find her, tell her about me and that I want to talk to her. Is that okay?"

"What?" she was now thoroughly confused.

"I want to find out whether she knows anything about my father. This is the first lead that I've had in years and I intend to follow it up. Please Weiss. I need this, and I need your help."

Nervously, she looked at him, ice blue eyes meeting dark grey. She quietly whispered "Okay."


	18. Chapter 18

Golden Thorns: Chapter Eighteen

The story travelled fast. Word got out in a school full of teens. Coran thought the story seemed vastly over exaggerated but everyone insisted that the strange girl had shot a plane out of the sky with a giant laser beam. Ludicrous, but apparently true. Every time something interesting happened at this school team RWBY seemed to be right in the middle of it. He had asked Weiss if she had talked to Blake but she had not had the time. His team knew about this. It had been the first thing that he had talked about when he got back that night. The next morning all that was talked about was the fight down by the docks and the one people were calling "the laser girl." It was all very immature.

During the day Coran was pleased to hear that they were going on a field trip to Foreverfall. He had enjoyed it last time when they had to collect some red tree sap. It had been peaceful and he had fancied that if he was to become a hermit then that would be where he built his hut. He was glad to be returning to that beautiful place. Marie had missed out last time due to illness so was very excited to be going. However the objective of the expedition was niggling at Coran. Professor Port had challenged each team to kill a creature of Grimm. It was to be a competition between the teams to see who could get the biggest kill. The psycho had even constructed a points table to establish a clear winner at the end of the day. The whole thing was a recipe for disaster desert in Coran's mind. Some idiot was bound to get too cocky and was going to get owned by a deathstalker, yet the trip was going ahead anyway. Then again, Ozpin's methods did tend towards the unorthodox. Maybe this was just a test. Yeah, it would be alright, his team would trap and kill something simple, take it back to Port and get a middling grade. Better that than overdoing it and getting mauled by an Ursa.

The night before the trip SOUL had a team meeting in their dorm. Marie and Jo had gone to find a catalogue of all the Grimm that could be found in Foreverfall, and Coran and Devlyn had been running through various scenarios on how to deal with each one. They had immediately ruled out Nevermore, Deathstalker and Taijitu, Ursa would be a challenge, they briefly considered a Beowolf but shot this down when Devlyn reminded them that they often travelled in large packs so it would be hard to pin one down without getting flanked. Eventually they decided on a Boarbatusk. Not too big, generally solitary and easy to get the jump on if they did it right. At this point they called it a night and went to sleep. They were going to need to be well rested for the day ahead.

The next morning they awoke early, packed their weapons and what they would need for the trap and ran it through one more time. They would find a clearing with some overhanging branches, bait the centre of it with red sap that they could collect once they got there, hide in the treetops and wait for a Boarbatusk to show up. Once it did they would drop a weighted net onto it, Coran and Marie, who had longer weapons, would use them to pin the net to the ground to stop the beast from running off and Devlyn would secure its tusks using a rope. At this point Jo would use the static function in her baton to stun the creature. Objective completed with bonus points for capturing it alive. Another demonstration piece for Port and another decent grade for team SOUL. They could then spend the rest of the weekend relaxing in the soft sun and enjoying the beauty of the forest. All they had to hope was that an Ursa didn't stumble across the bait first. "The perfect plan…" joked Jo, wearing an evil grin.

"Not quite as secure as I would want but it will do." Replied Coran

"We just need to be careful and everything will go according to the plan." Said Marie with a small smile. Dev didn't look so convinced.

"Remind me why I get the gougers?" he asked.

"Because if the 'gougers' get you first it will take less time for you to get back on your feet." Coran explained laughing at Dev's horrified expression. "Just a joke dude."

"Not very funny. I might heal quick but it still hurts."

"Look, this might seem hard to believe but your heritage gives you the quickest reflexes of all of us. That means that you're the least likely to get got by the 'gougers'. That put your mind at rest?"

"Not really." He replied. But that was the plan and Coran was sure it would work.


	19. Chapter 19

Golden Thorns: Chapter Nineteen

The day started well. A short trip to the edge of the forest followed by a quick camp build. The other teams set off immediately but SOUL lagged behind. They wanted to see which direction people were going so they could avoid them and set up their trap in peace. It took them an hour to find a clearing of ideal size and another half hour to set the bait. They then climbed the trees and set about waiting. The sun rose high in the sky and not a creature could be seen. Still they waited.

A slight scuffling of footsteps. A break of a twig. A rustle of leaves. The Boarbatusk slowly edged into the clearing. When it thought it was safe it moved towards the small puddle of sap and started to lap up the sweet, sugary fluid.

With a flick of the wrist, Marie threw the net. The weights pulled it down, covering the Grimm. Immediately, she and Coran fell from the trees, pinning the net into the dirt. Devlyn burst into the clearing and threw his rope around the beast's tusks, pulling them down into the hard soil. Then Jo was there. She jumped onto the creatures back and shoved the end of her baton into the small hollow behind its front legs. They held it as it slowly stopped struggling. Its squeals subsided and the forest was quiet once again.

The whole process had taken thirty seconds from net throw to silence. Coran stood. The others followed his lead. "And you thought you were going to get gouged" he grinned at Devlyn.

"I almost did. Cripes that thing was strong." He said letting out an audible sigh of relief.

"I suppose we should find a way to take it back to the camp." Said Marie, "I know I have not the strength required for such a task as carrying it." That trademarked smile slowly forming on her lips.

"Yeah, that rodeo really took it out of me," agreed Jo, sharing in the joke.

"Oh I see. Playing the gender card, are we?" Sighed Dev. "Come on Cor, let's get this great lump mov-"but he stopped abruptly when he saw Coran's expression. His eyes were closed, his hand held out from his body, one finger extended upwards. He was listening and was asking for quiet. Far off in the distance the sounds of a skirmish had started up, but that wasn't what Coran was listening for. Slowly he raised his glaive and held it close, hands evenly spaced along the haft. His team slowly sank into defensive crouches, spear, baton and cinquedea at the ready.

At that moment a Beowolf leapt into the clearing. Right into the blade of Coran's glaive. As it smashed into the ground four more sprung from the surrounding foliage. He spun round and fired off a shot into one. Devlyn, holding the long knife in a reverse grip, rolled out from under the pounce of another, slashed out the back of its legs and imbedded his blade into the base of its skull. Jo had matador jumped and was riding on the back of hers, wrestling it to the ground with her baton in its mouth, crackling with static. Marie had already dispatched hers with a slash, quick twirl and a stab in the throat.

More were coming, however. It seemed like they had stumbled onto the hunting grounds of a full pack. Coran let fly another three shots, dropping two of the creatures. A third jumped onto him. He raised the haft of his Weapon and the Beowolf bit down on it. He twisted his grip and the beast was thrown into the dirt. He finished it off with a quick stab to the throat and turned his attention to the rest. A wild swipe caught him off guard and knocked him to the ground. As the Beowolf went in for the kill he raised his weapon just in time to impale the Grimm.

He rolled over and slid the blade out of the corpse and got up ready to fight… only to see three of the creatures advancing on Marie, teeth bared and claws flexing. She dealt with one with three rapid slices. Another with a parry, strike and a sidestep. The last one jumped on her, forcing her to the ground. Totally out of character, he did something reckless. He sprinted across the clearing and jumped into the scramble, his blade swinging home and lodging in the beast's shoulder. Coran and Marie were thrown in opposite directions as it flailed and roared in pain. It keeled over and once again the forest was quiet. He looked around for his team. Devlyn was standing triumphantly over two dead 'wolves and Jo was confirming her kills with a small knife. Both had scratches and bruises but none were as bad as Marie. In the final grapple with the Beowolf it had torn a great wound across her side, staining her pure white shirt a deep red.


	20. Chapter 20

Golden Thorns: Chapter Twenty

There was so much blood. It ran down and formed a puddle on the hard dirt.

In a flash Coran was there, at her side. "Dev! Jo! Help me!" he cried. He looked back at Marie. Her beautiful face was pale and contorted with agony. She was breathing heavily. Her teeth were clenched and her bright green eyes were screwed tight shut. She was still conscious then. That was something.

"Marie, Marie listen to me." He said urgently. "I need you to talk to me okay? Keep talking, it doesn't matter what about just keep talking." He turned to the others. "Jo, find water. To clean it. I heard a spring that way" as she ran off he turned to Devlyn. "Put pressure on that wound okay?" he did so and the bleeding slowed a little. Marie gasped at the sudden pain but didn't scream. He started tearing strips off of his shirt. "I don't hear you talking Marie." She started mumbling quietly.

"Coran!" Jo was back with her water bottle freshly filled.

"Okay Dev, lift off on three. This is going to sting a bit. Ready. One… two… three!" the scaled hands lifted, the water was poured and Marie groaned. "Go get Port, anyone that could help. GO!" he shouted to his team.

He was alone with her now. Holding the wound in one hand and hers in the other. "Now you listen to me. I have too much going for me right now. You wouldn't want to break my winning streak would you?" he joked, even though the tears were falling freely now. God there was so much blood. He picked up the rags and shoved them into the wound to staunch the flow. He squeezed her hand tightly and she responded in kind. Her grip was vicelike. "Keep talking, Marie. Keep going." He cradled her in his arms as her laboured breathing continued… barely.

"The… ship…" she murmured

"Yes, on the ship. Where we met."

"I… am glad…"

"So am I." he suddenly had a desperate thought, an idea of how to keep her awake. "Hey, Marie." He was half laughing, half sobbing, "y'know there's prom coming up?"

"Really?" she had the faintest trace of a smile.

"I was wondering whether you would like to go with me."

"I… can't imagine you dancing"

"I'm actually pretty good, though probably a bit out of practice." He laughed through the tears

"We… shall see…" with a small grin she slipped into unconsciousness.

He felt her bone-crushing grip lessen even as the airship descended and the medical team rushed out, along with a breathless Port. Coran only let go when Devlyn and Jo lifted him to his feet. The airship took off and they were left in the clearing, dust billowing around their ankles.

Coran was so numb he barely noticed Professor Port hurrying over to them, puffing and wheezing slightly. "Come on children. Back to base camp. Good heavens! Mr Silverthorne, are you hurt?"

He looked up to see Port staring at his torso. He wasn't aware of any injuries but when he looked down he realised that his shirt was covered in blood. Her blood. He had to get up to the school. He had to make sure that she would pull through.

"She'll be okay. Beacon has some of the best doctors in Vale." Dev said quietly, though it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than the others.


	21. Chapter 21

Golden Thorns: Chapter Twenty-one

They faced each other down, circling slowly. The weapon swung. He dropped into a low squat as it sailed over his head. He smacked the butt of his Glaive into the side of his opponent's knee, yielding a satisfying crack. He jumped up as his adversary went down. Hard. He took a couple of steps backward. The bout was over in less than ten seconds. Disappointing. He expected better from Cardin, who had been high on the class leader board until then.

Coran walked back to his seat at the side of the sparring hall, listening to the whispers. "Psycho," "brutal," "dangerous."

"What's his problem?"

"Didn't you hear? The guy let one of his team get messed up by a beowolf last week."

He sat down next to Devlyn and leant back in his seat. They thought he couldn't hear them. He could, easily. As clear as if they were whispering in his ear. Popular opinion seemed to think of him as serial killer material. Still, if it stopped them from going after his team then he was all for it.

"Bloody hell Coran I think you broke his leg." Dev said quietly.

"He had it coming." Remembering the numerous times that Dev had come back late, limping.

"Did he?" Devlyn's scales were flushed a much darker green than normal.

"He'll be fine. Look the medics have already got him. And you know better than most how much he had it coming." Cardin was groaning quietly as he was wheeled out on a gurney.

"Even so. You couldn't have turned it down even a little bit?"

"Accidents happen all the time, what can I say."

It had been six days since the incident in Foreverfall. They had hurried back to the school immediately. On their way to the med centre they had of course been headed off by Goodwitch, telling them that she was going into surgery and they wouldn't be allowed to watch anyway so they might as well recount their tale. They did, though Coran said nothing about when they were alone.

"A captured Boarbatusk and a slain pack of Beowolves. Not bad even with the injury at the end." She had said, "So you applied the first aid, Mr Silverthorne?"

"yes." He had replied quietly.

"The paramedics send their compliments. If you had not Miss d'Or would have certainly died today. As it happens, you have given her a chance-"

"Hey! Cor! Wakey wakey!" Jo's shout snapped him back from his reverie, "You're up again." He looked around. The class was looking at him expectantly, almost as if they thought he would lash out. He stood, apologised quietly to Goodwitch who gave him an understanding nod and walked up to the battle stage. Facing him was a short girl, wearing a black skirt and red cape. She really did look very young, and that was when he remembered who she was. The infamous Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY and one of the youngest students to ever make it to beacon. The Same Ruby Rose who dragged a Nevermore up a cliff.

So why was she looking so nervous. She was standing there, shuffling her feet slightly and barely making eye contact. He realised that she must be thinking about Cardin's leg. Did they really think that he would not hold back on an innocent little girl two years younger than him? Goodwitch gave the countdown and the match began. Coran raised his Glaive into a defensive grip. Suddenly the girl was gone, sprinting to his right. He spun just in time to block a swing from her scythe strong enough to cause him to stumble. He rolled back and parried again, and again, and again. The onslaught was overpowering. Bloody hell she was fast. He was being pushed back further and further, only just holding his defence. One final overhead slash from that great instrument of destruction and Coran was on his back. Looking up into a face of pure innocence apologising profusely and asking if he was okay. He didn't know what had happened. He wasn't injured, just shaken up. So what was the fuss about? He couldn't win them all. He slowly sat up and looked around. Lying next to him was his glaive. Its haft cleanly sliced in two pieces.

"Well. Good bout Ruby." He stood and shook her hand, an expression of concern still across her features. "I believe that I need to see the armourers. Ms Goodwitch, May I be excused?"


	22. Chapter 22

Golden Thorns Chapter Twenty-two

"I'm sorry. She's lost a lot of blood. We have stitched the wound in her abdomen but she has also suffered light spinal damage and severe concussion. We have put her into a medically induced coma until we are sure that she is stable. It may be a week or so before she can be safely woken up." Said the tall man in the blue scrubs.

"Can we at least see her?" asked Jo quietly.

"Give it until tomorrow. Just so we can make sure, okay" he said gently as the three of them turned and walked back to their dorm.

Coran was still in shock from his fight with Ruby an hour after the match, waiting in the schools armoury. She was so fast. And with such a heavy looking weapon as well. Hell, she'd almost taken his head off with that thing. The students thought he was dangerous, they'd best not get on her bad side.

He looked up as the door opened. In she walked. That young, nervous little girl who had steamrolled him so decisively. "Umm… hi" she walked in and cautiously sat next to him on the wooden bench.

"Hello." He responded

"Coran, right?"

"That's me." This begat a sudden outburst of barely comprehensible what-he-thought-were-words

"CoranI'mreallysorry, Ididn'tmeantoIjustgot-"

"Caught up in the moment. It's okay Ruby. It's reparable. Firebrand and the armoury team are fixing it now."

"Even so, I'm really sorry. I know our weapons mean a lot to some people. are you alright? You went down quite hard. I wasn't sure if you'd hit your head, or, or if I'd hit your head, or-"

"Ruby. It's fine. I'm not hurt. I'm just a little blown away, that's all. You hit like a freight train."

"I'm told I have that effect on people." she said sheepishly.

"Weiss?" he chuckled slightly.

"Huh?" she was confused now.

"I bet Weiss says that all the time."

"I didn't know you knew Weiss." She said, sounding a little put out.

"I guess you could say we're childhood friends. How's Cardin?" he asked, he didn't really want to talk about it right then, to this girl he barely knew.

"Pfft. Cardin. Don't get me started." She seemed to suddenly harden.

"Not a fan?" secretly amused about the quantity of dismissal coming from such an innocent voice.

"The way he treats others is sickening." A frown creasing her youthful brow.

"Still… I do feel bad about it. I mean he's a bully but I know how much that hurts. And I'm beginning to think that people are a little frightened of me."

"Oh please, we were all shocked but most of us have been trying to find an excuse to do the same for weeks." The little girl stunned him again, this time with the brutality of her words. Not so sweet after all… interesting… there must be a reason for that.

"So… why are they keeping you down here? It must be a long time to weight." She was suddenly sheepish again.

"They periodically call me in to test the balance and weight. I don't mind. I always thought that it was a little off. This way I can tweak it to my personal preference. Speaking of weapons, yours is quite something."

"Yeah, I may have overdone it a bit but crescent rose is still my baby." She said, drooling slightly.

"You named it?"

"You didn't name yours?"

"Can't say the idea ever occurred to me."

She stood. "You should think about it," she said as she left the room, "it gives it character."

"Thanks Ruby."


	23. Chapter 23

Golden Thorns Chapter Twenty-three

Coran gazed out the window with a glum expression. At beacon academy rain was a rare occurrence. In fact he had been to the med bay more than he could remember it actually raining during his time on campus. It had been going all day with surprising vigour. When it did rain, it really did rain. Hard.

So far Coran, Jo and Dev had spent the Saturday morning normally set aside for sparring shut up in their room trying to remember what strategy Ports grandfather had used to take down the three Ursai that one time during that one battle….

Coran jerked awake. He looked around. Jo was perched on her bed, staring at him, barely containing fits of giggles. "You fell asleep on your notes…" at which point the spasms exploded out of her like lava from a volcano.

"Why the laughter?" he mumbled groggily

"Mirror… look…" she managed to spit out through the teary-eyed heaves.

Trying to shake off the clinging remains of fatigue he stumbled his way to the en suite that they shared and looked into the large mirror mounted on the wall. Sure enough written in superb detail across his cheek and temple were his writings, clear enough to read.

"D'arvit." The fuzziness of his brain continued to plague him as he scrubbed away at the ink. "Hey Jo, where's Dev?"

"Went to the library. Said he needed to return a book." Breathing seemed to be coming to her more easily now. Walking out of the bathroom he discovered that she was lying on her bed reading a comic. The rain had slowed slightly. He went over to the window, threw it open and took great gulps of fresh air. Rain always made him drowsy, not to mention the stifling heat of their dorm room.

A thought occurred to him, "wait, the book wasn't 'the thirteen beowolves' was it?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she replied without looking up, "why?"

"I still need it for Port's other essay." Coran burst into a run. Unlike most librarians, the ones at Beacon were kind (as librarians go) but horribly inefficient. If he didn't catch Dev before the book was signed for he wouldn't see it for at least a week. And that essay was already late. However he didn't find Dev at the library. He didn't even get that far. He ended up flat on his face, eating carpet in one of the many corridors.

"I guess we're even?" a disgustingly smug voice said from somewhere above and behind him.

"I don't suppose you even brought the book with you." Coran said, chewing the rug from his position at the very scaly feet of his teammate, working out exactly what had happened.

"Oops! Must've forgot." He chuckled, quietly smiling.

"If you are still standing there by the time I get up that book is going to be the least of your worries." the not-so-veiled threat spat out through gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay. Was just a joke!" he said nervously, backing away a couple of steps.

"You see me laughing." Coran was on his feet now, looming over Devlyn and staring straight into his slit like pupils. At which point they both collapsed into fits of laughter. Great heaves that brought tears to their eyes and threatened to tear their ribcages. This went on for some minutes. Both of them laughing for no good reason and yet unable to stand. As the hilarity began to subside Coran rolled over and opened his eyes to find himself staring at two heavy looking tan leather boots; attached to two very, very long legs that seemed to go on for forever. He felt a slight drip on the top of his head and looked up to see a girl, roughly the same age as him, glaring down at him. The drip was coming from her incredibly blonde hair, which was absolutely drenched, hanging limply off the top of her head like a depressed spaniel.

"Something funny boys?" she snarled as the yellow gauntlets on her wrists shifted and locked into place.

"Huh?" was all either could manage before the boot came down on Coran's face.


	24. Chapter 24

Golden Thorns Chapter Twenty-four

"So let me get this straight," half an hour later and they were in SOUL's Dorm with Coran leaning over the sink in the en suite bathroom, occasionally spiting a blood clot into the porcelain basin, "you broke my nose because you thought I was laughing at your hair getting wet?!"

"Geez, I said sorry." She replied

"I'm not sure if sorry quite cuts it I'm afraid. First you break my nose, then you send him flying down the corridor, then, when we try to get away from you by hiding in here you all but break down the door!"

"Coran, enough. It was a simple misunderstanding." He heard Jo giggle from the main room.

"Tell that to my face."

"Yeah, and my ribs." Groaned Dev, lying on his side trying to breathe.

"Oh don't be such a baby." The deranged girl muttered.

"Yeah," Jo giggled hysterically from her bed, "you're just sour coz you got beat up by a girl."

"Ha ha. If I'm gonna be your punching bag from now on I might as well know your name." Dev wheezed.

"I'm Yang," she said, cheery as a summer day, "nice to meet you."

"Devlyn…" he replied, face half buried in his pillow.

"Yang Xiao Long of team RWBY, correct?" Coran said, having slid his nose back into place with a wet shunk and a hiss of pain.

"Yeah how did you know?" she asked perkily.

"Oh, I'm a friend of Weiss'" a simple throwaway comment that gave an interesting reaction. A laugh, followed by "Really? I didn't think Weiss had any friends outside RWBY and JNPR." This was rewarded by a small smile from Coran. "Anyway it was nice to meet you guys but I've got to go. Ruby'll be mad if I'm late. Umm… I don't suppose any of you have a hair dryer I could borrow, do you?"

Coran frowned. Surely this girl who cared so much for her hair would have brought a hair dryer to a boarding school. "Sure, thing," said Jo, "Marie will be out of the med bay later but I'm sure she wouldn't mind you borrowing hers."

"Oh I heard about that. How is she?" Yang asked, suddenly serious.

"She'll be okay, thanks for asking." Coran answered.

"Okay. Thanks for letting me borrow this." She said loudly, taking the hair dryer from Jo and waving it around as she marched triumphantly down the hall.

"What a strange girl." He murmured.

"She seemed pretty cool to me." Said Devlyn, who had recovered enough to sit up on his bed.

"Yeah I bet she did." Jo's voice was layered with insinuation.

"And just what do you mean by that!" the Faunus responded, scales flushed, uncharacteristically offended and clearly knowing exactly what she meant.

Laughing quietly, Coran stood and left the room, leaving Jo and Devlyn arguing across their beds. He had a lead to follow up.


	25. Chapter 25

Golden Thorns Chapter Twenty-five

If he remembered correctly it was just around this corner- three students passed him wearing dark uniforms. One had grey hair, the second had dark skin and the third looked a little old to be a student in his humble opinion. But they ignored him so he ignored them. He carried on round the corner to find Ruby standing there looking a little forlorn. "Hey!" he called out to her.

"Huh? Oh hey Coran, what's up?" she asked as she snapped out of her daze.

"Nothing much, just had an interesting encounter with your sister." She looked horrified.

"Oh my god are you okay? YA-" she started to shout

"I'm fine Ruby, is Weiss around?" he interrupted. He didn't really want to get beaten up so far from a change of clothes.

"Oh, yeah, I'll get her for you." She spun round and entered her room. He leant patiently against the wall, closed his eyes and let his semblance do its thing. He heard muffled voices.

"Back so soon ruby?" that was Weiss alright.

"No I ran into some people." Ruby that time.

"Figuratively or literally this time." A voice he didn't recognise, Blake's maybe? Good.

"Oh, um, y'know… both…" Ruby again, "oh Weiss! Coran's outside."

"He's what?!" Weiss again.

"Hey I just met him!" obviously Yang that time.

"Why is he here?" Weiss said.

"Wait, who're we talking about" that other voice. Blake's.

"Oh he's just a friend of mine. Ruby did he say why he was here? And how do you know him?"

"He said he was looking for you, or whether you were around or something."

Footsteps. Heels. Weiss. He opened his eyes just as the door swung inward and the heiress stepped out. "What are you doing here, Coran?"

"Just came by for a little catch up. How are you?" he said innocently. She brandished that accusing finger in his face.

"Don't mess with me Silverthorne. You're an introvert. You don't go actively seeking conversation unless there is a specific reason." She said as the door closed.

"Okay fine, you didn't show up to practice yesterday."

"I'm sorry, okay. Goodwitch made us clean up after the food fight and we were there most of the evening."

"Never mind that. I wanted to know whether you had had a chance to talk to Blake yet." Coran said, this was the reason that he had come. "I must admit I was beginning to think that you'd forgotten."

"Okay, Coran this is quite a sensitive subject. We have our own problems that we are trying to work out at the minute. And besides, you can speak. Why not just ask her yourself?" she answered impatiently.

"Weiss, you said you'd help me."

"You cannot seriously be attempting to use my guilt to manipulate me. I let you down four years ago but using it against me in this way is just petty." She spun on her heel and walked back through the door, slamming it behind her.

Coran was left dumbstruck in the corridor, staring at the portal into RWBY's room. He dug around in his pockets for a pen and scrap of paper, wrote a quick message, stuffed it through the small letterbox in the door and went back to his room. If she didn't want to help him then fine. He could deal. He was used to doing things by himself.


	26. Chapter 26

Golden Thorns Chapter Twenty-six

The three of them sat in the small yet comfortable lounge that served as the Beacon Med centre waiting room as the minutes on the small clock ticked by. They had been there for half an hour when the door finally swished open and a smiling nurse in purple scrubs pushed through a wheel chair. As the three team members stood they saw that in the chair was a slightly dishevelled and frail looking Marie. She was dressed in simple clothes, a pair of loose fitting trousers and a hoodie, and had a nervous smile on her lips as she saw her team.

"You're back!" Jo exclaimed as she ran over to her friend, who was gingery standing up, and enveloped her in a tight hug that threatened to crush her.

"Easy now, you don't want to break the stitching." The nurse said warmly as she gently pulled the girls apart. "Remember Marie, you can go back to class but no physical activity for another week or so. Just ease yourself back into it okay. I don't want to see you in here again anytime soon."

"Thank you." They all said as they left the hospital wing.

"I would presume that I have missed quite a lot in the past week." Marie said, clearly happy to be out of the med bay at last. Jo answered her question.

"Oh nothing special. Coran broke Cardin's leg, Coran and Dev got beaten up by Yang…" Marie looked somewhat concerned about this.

"Just your average day at the office" Devlyn joked, rewarded by a chuckle from the group.

"How're you feeling?" Coran asked

"I feel like I require a hot bath and a few more hours asleep." She sighed

"That can be arranged."

"What did you two do to incur the wrath of Yang? Whatever it was it wasn't a very smart thing to do." She asked

"We didn't do anything. She got caught out in the rain and went she saw us laughing she kicked the stuffing out of us." Devlyn complained

"You laughed at Yang Xiao long?" she raised her hand to her face and shook her head slowly.

"We weren't actually laughing at her, she just happened to walk by while we were laughing." He continued.

"I had noticed that Coran's nose was a little crooked. Was that her?"

"That obvious, huh?" Coran sighed sarcastically, knowing that there was a very slight kink in the bridge of his nose, even if it was barely noticeable. Not that he cared much about his appearance anyway. He had mildly good looking patrician features, a slightly broken nose would probably complement his air of distain for all around him, he reflected. "I was going for the 'rugged badass' look. Do I pull it off or should I get her to unbreak it?" he grinned

"Ladies love scars, Coran." This earned Dev a punch from Jo.

"Then you'd best get some lover-boy." She remarked.

"I told you it's not like that." He muttered attempting to silence her.

"This I must hear." Marie interjected.

"Dev's got a crush on Yang." Jo spat out as she was shoved roughly against the wall.

"Well, as I recall, there is a dance coming up, my reptilian friend." Coran stiffened at Marie's words. Red leaves, the colour of blood. A tight grip on his hand slowly slackening. A few desperate words…

"Coran, something wrong?" Jo snapped him back to the present.

"Nothing. Just thinking about how we can get clueless over here a date."

"Dammit Coran! I don't have a crush on Yang!" his scales flushing to a dark green, his equivalent if a blush. Sure you don't, buddy.

"It's perfectly understandable. She has got a very large… personality"

"Good god just shut up all of you." They continued their teasing all the way back to their dorm where Dev hid amongst a pile of work and buried his green-tinged face in a textbook.


	27. Chapter 27

Golden Thorns: Chapter Twenty-seven

The next morning, conversation of the dance was prevalent. People in the canteen would not talk about anything else. Students eagerly discussing what clothes they were going to wear, what music they liked, in some cases even who they were going with. The room was buzzing with anticipation and yet, over in the corner were six exceptionally tired looking students. RWBY were sitting around a meagre breakfast with what looked like the monkey Faunus and a guy whose entire look just screamed "cool." They had all been out very late it would seem. Probably something to do with the early morning news broadcast that Coran had caught before going to breakfast.

"Hey, Coran! Remnant to the unconscious! Marie and I are making the trip to vale today to pick out dresses." Jo shouted in his ear, a few flecks of scrambled egg colliding with his face.

"Yes thank you for sharing both the information and your breakfast. It's always appreciated"

"Always welcome" she said, a satisfied smile appearing as they left.

"See you later" Marie said over her shoulder

They sat in silence for a time, Coran slowly chewing a slice of toast and Devlyn swallowing strips of bacon. "So…" he said slowly. Devlyn's eye flicked up to him. "Check out team favourites over there. Late night? Or just not morning people?"

"Late night. Even Ruby looks wiped" Dev said as he looked casually over his shoulder.

"Good point. Speaking of which, you'd better get on with asking out Yang before someone else does." Coran leaned forward onto the table.

"Really Coran?" he responded exasperatedly as he got up to leave, "You are not going to leave me alone about this, are you." Coran followed him down the corridors of beacon.

"Frankly, no. If it's not a crush then what is it? We've noticed how you act around her, looking when you think no-one else is, your shoulders stiffen whenever she comes up in conversation. You clearly feel something towards her." He said softly

"Oh! Oh! You're going to lecture me about subtlety are you?" Dev spun round to face him. "Everyone else might be clueless but I've seen the way you look at Marie. The look in your eyes when she got injured, that was more than concern for a teammate." His whispered voice filled Coran with dread. It was his turn to go on the defensive.

"Watch your step Dev. That's precarious ground you're treading on." He snarled threateningly, "besides, that's different."

"Isn't it?" he said darkly.

"You first then."

He let out a sigh. "Okay… for starters. I don't have a crush on Yang." He paused, "or at least not in the same way as you all think. Yeah she's attractive, but so are so many people around here, have you noticed that? Sorry. Focus. Yeah there's that, but it's more than that. She's everything I'm not, what I've never been."

"A… girl?" Coran asked quizzically.

"A normal human being you moron! She's good looking, she's popular. People want to be around her because she's fun, and interesting and not in any way repulsive. Believe it or not but the scales do tend to put people off somewhat. Don't say it. You were put off when you first saw me too." Coran closed his mouth as Devlyn continued. "For the past twelve years it's been nothing but 'what a freak' or 'Dev, he creeps me out' or my absolute favourite 'touch him. He's not slimy, he's scaly!' believe it or not but I didn't have a friend to speak of before I met you guys. And who can blame them. Who'd want to be seen with the creepy lizard kid? Social suicide of the highest order, that is." He paused for breath, the air rattling between lips which at this moment did seem remarkably reptilian. "The worst wasn't even the bullying. That was bad but as you know I heal quick. The worst bit was the silence. The lack of communication from others. It was really demoralising." This was barely a whisper. He mustered his resolve and carried on. "I guess I'm attracted to Yang because people treat her the way I wish they'd treat me. Sounds pathetic doesn't it. It's not even like a proper crush or anything…"


	28. Chapter 28

Golden Thorns Chapter Twenty-eight

Coran was dumbstruck. "Wow Dev… that was…wow."

"Yeah alright. Laugh it up. We have class to get to."

"I'm not laughing mate. That was deep."

"Geez, you sound like a frikken hippie."

"Yeah, I need more sleep. Let's go" they moved on towards their respective classes, Dev to Grimmonology with Port, Coran to sparring with Goodwitch.

The latter had an exceptionally boring time. He broke some slacker, Pyrrha Nikos proceeded to wipe the floor with the entire of CRDL… nothing out of the ordinary. The only interesting thing that happened was some exchange student, claiming to be from Haven, demanded (quite rudely he mused) to challenge Pyrrha, just after she destroyed a strong team. This piqued Coran's interest.

But to his utmost disappointment he forfeited after just a couple of clashes. Kid probably got cocky and realised his mistake. Although… he didn't seem discouraged in any way. Interesting.

Leaving the hall he noticed RWBY and a couple of guys from Mistral, chatting to each other. Blake stormed of and the monkey Faunus looked a little disheartened. Clearly he was not used to being rejected. Oh well, serves him right for trying to get lucky with little miss stonewall.

Coran thought about what he had to do the rest of the day. Glaive could do with a touch up, there was that research assignment for Oobleck… what else, what else… oh yes. He was out of rounds. He needed to head down to "dust 'till dawn" and see if they had any new flavours for him to try. He had been saving up the allowance that the school gave him and felt like treating himself. He had just enough Lien to get a couple of clips of dust rounds. A rare occurrence in his current situation.

He keyed in his teams group message on his scroll. "Need 2 go 2 vale 4 supplies. U guys up 4 shakes?" the replies came back fast. "Always, could use the fresh air." Dev.

"We are already in vale, remember? We will meet you guys at the coffee shop." Marie. This was followed by a picture of Marie and Jo, the latter's arm wrapped around the former's neck, the camera held at arm's length. Clearly Jo's work. He picked up the pace and caught the next airbus down to vale.

Strolling through the boulevards of the city, Coran gazed into shop windows with mild curiosity. Fashion, technology, food markets, Tuckson's book trade, closed, they had seen the news bulletin. Finally he arrived at Dust till dawn. As he opened the door there was a small ringing of a bell. The usual old man was behind the counter. Coran smiled at him politely before making his way over to the shelves where the ammunition was on display.

"Can I help you there, young man?" the shopkeep was at his shoulder, grinning enthusiastically.

"Uh, yeah. I'm in the market for some dust rounds. Can I have a look?"

"Sure thing." He shuffled over to a cabinet and took a key from around his neck, "however before I open this up I will need to see some sort of ID. We can't be selling these to just anybody." Coran sighed, took his scroll from his pocket and handed it to the older man.

"This checks out. Beacon, eh? This for the tournament? Bear with me." He turned the key and stepped back to allow Coran to take a look at his wears.

"Are you serious?" an incredulous Coran turned to stare at the shopkeep. "What's with these prices?"

"Don't blame me. I've been held up more times in the past month than ever before in my life. All my shipments are being intercepted and I've had to pay for so many repairs that half the building is less than five months old. These criminals sure get a kick out of breaking windows, let me tell you."

Coran sighed. His meagre savings couldn't match up to those tags. There was nothing he could do short of rob the guy and from the sounds of it he'd had enough of that recently. He thanked the old man anyway and stepped out onto the brightly lit streets.


	29. Chapter 29

Golden Thorns: chapter 29

Ugh. This was going to make his life difficult. If he didn't have ammunition then he was going to be at a significant disadvantage in sparring matches. Oh well, it was probably good that he learned not to rely on fire power in a fight. He keyed in his teams group message and checked in.

"I'm six minutes out" from Dev

"Once again, we've been here all day. Already have your orders placed"

"Thanks Jo, be there in two."

'The coffee shop' was exactly what it sounded like. A little café that sold caffeine-based liquid energy to the masses. It also happened to sell the best milkshakes in Vale. This had caused it to become one of SOUL's favourite haunts while they were in the town. It was situated on the corner of a block just off one of the main boulevards which gave it a degree of privacy that the chain cafes on the main street so desperately lacked. Not only this, but 'the coffee shop' also happened to sell decent clothing for relatively low prices. It was frequented by many of the older students of beacon, who were becoming more independent and having to pay for their stuff with their own money.

Coran approached the clean, wooden façade of the building with a disconsolate huff. He was going to need a double sized shake if he was to recover from his disappointment at the dust shop. He entered the shop and looked for his friends. Jo and Marie were sitting at a window table, chattering excitedly about the contents of the bags at their feet. A pair of tall glasses were on the table, the sugary drinks already half-consumed. The one closest to Jo contained what looked like strawberry and Marie had gone for her favourite: vanilla. Marie shushed Jo hurriedly and turned to face him.

"Hello Coran." Her grin lifted his mood a fraction

"What's with the secrecy?" he asked

"That's for you to find out in a couple of days." Jo said conspiratorially.

"Dresses for the dance, then" he replied

"Oh, you're on the ball today Silverthorne." She countered sarcastically.

"Did you get what you needed" Marie asked, extracting them from their contest of wits and humour.

"No. Dust has gotten ludicrously expensive. I thought I had enough for at least two mags but I couldn't even afford one. Apparently there have been issues with robberies."

"Well that sucks" Jo responded as a mint shake was set down on the table in front of Coran. He looked up to see a pretty waitress smiling at him.

"Thanks Jess." Being regulars at the coffee shop meant that they had gotten to know the staff relatively well. Jess was a pleasant girl, a couple of years older than them who was trying to earn a bit of money by working double shifts in the shop to pay rent.

"Doesn't sound like you guys had a very productive day." She said cheerily

"Not really. Running short on Lien at the minute."

"I know that feel. Tell you what, because I like you guys, I'll give you half off. But shh. Our secret, yeah?" she gave him a wink and wandered off back towards the kitchen just as a breathless Devlyn entered the building.

"Aww… you started without me." Jo looked at Marie. Marie looked at Jo. Jo spoke up.

"Now that you're both here, we can begin." This kind of statement coming from Jo was always cause for concern. Coran answered carefully.

"Begin what…"

"Suit shopping of course. You are not going to the dance dressed like you're from Vacuo or wherever."

Oh. Oh that's much worse.


	30. Chapter 30

Golden thorns chapter thirty

Being in a clothes shop with Jo was like being in the centre of a hurricane. The world around Coran span as she ran from shelf to rail to closet and back, sending shop assistants flying. Devlyn was doubtfully holding up a suit and glancing disconsolately at his muscly tail. Marie was stood next to him, appraising the clothing with a practiced eye. She hailed an attendant and the three of them began discussing the possibility of tailoring it to fit Devlyn's reptilian frame.

He slowly made his way over to a discrete rack of jackets and started leafing through them. They were very simple and nothing special. Black with plain dark grey lining. Dull, non-descript and lacking in any degree of taste or style. Jo grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away from them saying "have a little self-respect Coran. Those are disgusting." She showed him to a stand with some very fine clothes indeed. They were cut to a tailored fit, with a soft silk lining and lapels. These were almost on a par with the clothes his parents bought him back in the day. So what were they doing in a shop like this? Yeah, the clothes here were nice but they were still in the "economy section" of Vale's fashion market.

Jo snapped him out of his reverie by loading him up with a couple of suits. "Changing rooms are over there. Go try these on and show me how well you can clean up." She said excitedly.

"Uh, Jo I-" he protested but she was already pushing him towards the curtained booths.

"Shut up and put some nice clothes on for once." It is supposedly difficult to slam a curtain but she somehow managed it. "And you're not coming out until you get changed."

Half an hour and three suites later and they had settled on a simple black DJ with a silver silk lining and two unadorned brass buttons. Subtle but sophisticated. Coran loved it. There was only one, three digit problem standing in the way. "Jo, um…"

"Oh for goodness sake what's wrong with this one?"

"Nothing." He said, flustered. "It's just that I… probably won't be going to the dance."

"You… what?" she murmured darkly. "I beg to differ. Marie! Devlyn! Get over here." His teammates looked up from a display of amusing novelty cufflinks and hurried over to them.

"What is it?" Marie asked

"Lord Lame over here seems to think that he isn't going to the dance."

"Coran, mate. You can't be socially awkward forever. The number of friends you have can be counted on one hand." Devlyn sighed.

"Thanks for that. And I will thank you to say two hands. I have you three, most of the time," he shot a glare at Dev, "then there's Weiss, Ruby and Yang. That makes six."

"Yang, you count Yang?" the incredulous Faunus asked.

"Sure, what's a broken nose between friends?"

"Guys, guys, we're getting off topic here. Coran, why do you really not want to go to the dance?" Jo interrupted, frustration clearly growing in her.

"I'm too busy." He said blankly.

"No you're not." Jo seemed adamant.

"Yes I am. I have a hundred and one things to do before Monday when, in case you've forgotten, we have our first proper mission assignments. As team leader it's my responsibility to make sure everything goes smoothly this time." Leaves of red, a snarl of wolves. "I know my gear needs an overhaul, as I'm sure do all of yours. Plus with me being out of ammo for the next week or two I have to factor that into our plans. I'm the best shot-" three bangs, two shapes drop, "-and if we don't have me then our tactics will have to be much more close quarters-" hot, steamy breath on his face, "-which is not ideal. We may be improving but we're hardly team RWBY. We have to account for everything-" surrounded, outnumbered, split up, "-even if we aren't even leaving Vale. If we leave the slightest thing to chance-" a desperate leap, "- anything could go wrong." Hot blood flowing freely, the sirens of an emergency VTOL- Coran opened eyes that he had not realised were closed. He felt dizzy, faint. His heart was hammering like an artillery canon. He sat down on a nearby stool and attempted to calm down. At this rate he was going to give himself an aneurism.


	31. Chapter 31

Golden thorns chapter 31

"Coran, are you alright? You're looking a bit pale." A soft accented voice chilled the pumping in his temples.

"How can you be so calm?" his voice was weaker than expected, hoarse, strained. He felt sick. "Last time we left the city everything went to hell. We got our asses handed to us and you barely escaped with your life. If I get it wrong again then we might not all make it back. I can't waste an evening at some party when I need to go through so many scenarios and plan for every eventuality that they might produce. And besides, even if we didn't have that coming up what makes you think I can afford these clothes when I barely have enough for toothpaste."

"Alright, you're making a scene. Let's get back up to Beacon and just de-stress. Cool?" Jo walked over to him and groaned as she hauled him to his feet. "There's an airbus in ten minutes."

That night was not pleasant. Coran woke from a dream in a cold sweat. He was shivering and yet he felt hot, too hot. He kicked off his covers and ran through the dark room to the small en suite and proceeded to profusely empty his guts into the toilet. Feeling somewhat delirious, he washed his mouth, downed a pint of water and stumbled back into the main room. On his way back to his bed he tripped over a pile of something and cracked his head on the floor. Rubbing the rather large lump on his cranium, he crawled back to his bed and shuddered his way into a shallow, haunted sleep.

_A cold wind blows through the drawing room in the old house, causing the thin grey curtains to drift and wave. A dark haired, middle-aged woman sits on the expensive sofa. She is crying into a silk handkerchief. A young boy walks up to her and sits down. They talk and the boy starts crying. They hold each other for a moment, shaking. She speaks to him, whispers in his ear. His sobs ease slightly. He looks up to see that she is much younger, much more beautiful, and he is older, a similar age to her. They hold the embrace for a moment longer. He looks over her shoulder to see others smiling at him. _

_There is a howl. She is wrenched from his grasp. A shadow sweeps across his vision and the figures are gone. He is lost in a blank greyness. He turns, desperately searching. He finds the girl again, starts running. As he reaches out she falls, lands on a bed of clouds. He takes her hand in his and she shatters. In her place is the older woman, just as still. Slowly, the clouds draw in. the boy feels cold. Lost. Empty. Alone. He can't see. All he can do is listen. Listen as the clouds draw in and start to swirl around him. Listen as he hears distant voices, shouting, jeering, wailing. He buckles over, winded and in pain as if kicked as the voices rise in volume, shouting in his ears "DEAD! ALONE! GONE! FAILED! DEAD! ALONE!" it is too loud. He lashes out with a fist to try and stop the shouting but instead there is a smash. His ears are in agony. He is falling. He screams. There is a loud-_

BANG! Coran awoke to a searing pain like knives trying to cut their way out of his skull. His eyes burned. He closed them, opened them again. The burn lessened to a dull ache. He gradually became aware of his situation. He was lying on a hard wooden floor. He was in a bedroom, shared. That was it. He was at beacon academy, a school where he was training to be a hunter of the creatures of Grimm with his teammates- the pain in his head flared. He was going to be sick. He ran to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet for the second time that day.

A warm hand touched the back of his neck.

"Coran, you have a fever. You must go back to bed, okay? Devlyn and Jo have gone to get a nurse but until they get back you must rest."

"Mm- no" he mumbled "see Ozpin…" he stumbled to his feet and stood for a moment, swaying slightly. Marie came up behind him and led him by the shoulders back to his bed where she laid him down and pulled some clean sheets over him. "See… Ozpin..." He murmured.

"I will message Jo and Dev to get him on the way. Sleep, Coran. Sleep." She gently stroked his hair and hummed quietly as he drifted back to sleep.


End file.
